


Wait, And Be Still

by EmmaLeeWrites



Series: Nightmares [5]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's, Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rentals, Lindsay does their own investigating, What will they find?, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmmaLeeWrites/pseuds/EmmaLeeWrites
Summary: Lindsay finds their own lead in Gavin's disappearance: Circus Baby's Entertainment And Rentals, owned by Cloudberry Robotics. Is this an offshoot of Fazbear Entertainment and Freddy Fazbear's Pizza? Or does it not have anything to do with Fazbear Entertainment at all? One thing is for sure.Lindsay is going to figure it out... even if it kills them.
Series: Nightmares [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1767145
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. Speak of the Devil

Lindsay steps into the elevator for her first night of work. The doors close behind her, and she’s trapped in the dimly lit metal box. A couple of bright posters have been plastered to the wall, probably as an attempt to make the elevator feel less ominous, but it really just feels like a politician in their fifties trying to seem ‘hip’ to the youngest voters. It doesn’t work.

***

_ Lindsay stares at Gavin’s wanted poster. It’s been up for a little under eight months, and she’s honestly surprised that Walmart hasn't taken it down from the board yet. It’s not like they’ve heard anything from him-- even the police have given up. She’s not even sure why she does this so often. She barely knew him. But he was Michael’s closest friend, and she’s spent enough time trying to find him that looking at his missing poster every time she goes to walmart doesn’t seem quite so weird. He looks pretty happy in the photo, too. A lot different than the last time she saw him. _

_ “Who’s yours?” Someone asks. _

_ She jerks, surprised, and turns to look at them. He’s a larger man, somewhere in his thirties, or maybe early forties, with a short orange beard and a pleasant smile. _

_ “Huh?” She asks. _

_ He gestures to the board. “If you don’t mind me asking… who’s yours?” _

_ Lindsay looks at it again. Gavin’s face is among six, three of which are children and two of which are teenage girls. “Gavin Free.” She says. _

_ The man is silent for a moment. “I’m sorry for your loss.” _

_ “Thanks. We didn’t know each other much, though.” She says. She holds her hand out. “Lindsay Tuggey.” _

_ He takes it. “Jack Pattillo.” He looks at Gavin’s missing poster. “And a loss is still a loss, no matter how you knew the person.” _

_ “Sure is,” Lindsay agrees. “Do you have someone…?” _

_ “Oh, no.” Jack says. “I take a look up there every once in a while. It’s always good to know the local news, good and bad. He’s been up there for a while, hasn’t he?” _

_ “Almost eight months. I’m surprised it’s still here. Everyone’s given up looking for him, except for me and my boyfriend.” _

_ “Case gone cold?” _

_ “Not much of a case to begin with. He disappeared from the hospital when he shouldn’t have even been able to get out of bed. And trust me, we went back to where the accident happened-- the one that sent him there?-- and we didn’t find him there, either.” She shakes her head. “There’s video of him walking out of the hospital, but after that there aren’t enough cameras in the city to track him.” _

_ “He wasn’t taken?” Jack asks. _

_ She’s not really sure why she’s talking. Maybe because she doesn’t have anyone to talk to other than Michael. Maybe because this is all information the public has access to anyway. Maybe because Jack seems like a friendly guy, and she could really use a friendly talk. _

_ “Not at all. He wasn’t really in the right state of mind so I’m not surprised he tried to leave, but... “ She trails off. _

***

“Welcome to the first day of your exciting new career.” A voice says from a speaker. “Whether you were approached at a job fair, read our ad at Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, or if this is the result of a dare, we welcome you. I will be your personal guide to help you get started. I’m a model 5 of the Handyman’s Robotics and Unit-Repair System, but you can call me Hand-Unit. Your new career promises challenge, intrigue and endless janitorial opportunities.”

_ Sure does, _ Lindsay thinks. Beneath her feet, a yellow control panel rises from the floor. She steps back. “Woah. That’s really cool.”

Hand-Unit continues. “Please enter your name as seen above the keypad. This cannot be changed later, so please be careful.”

She stares at the control panel. It has simple cartoony eyes poking from the top, and more curiously, a piece of tape with the name ‘G.A.’ on it stuck to the front. The keypad screen glitches, but she tries her best anyway and pokes the letter ‘R’. It beeps, and she types out the rest of ‘Ruby’.

It makes an error sound and the keypad on the screen disappears.

“It seems that you had some trouble with the keypad. I see what you were trying to type, and I will auto-correct it for you. One moment. Welcome: Eggs Benedict.”

The keypad lowers into the floor again.

“Well, that’s not my name.” Lindsay mumbles under her breath. “If this place can’t even make a keypad work I’m really not excited for the animatronics.”

She wraps her arms around her torso. The elevator stops and perky music plays from the speakers. The lights dim.

“You can now open the elevator using that bright, red and obvious button. Let’s get to work!” Hand-Unit says.

Lindsay presses the button. The doors open, revealing… a vent? “I have to climb through a vent? Cool.”

Maybe she shouldn’t be as excited about it as she is, but… spies crawl around in vents all the time in movies, and she’s always wanted to be a spy.  _ I feel like a movie star. _

Hand-Unit speaks from the darkness. “Allow me to fill this somewhat frightening silence with some light-hearted banter. Due to the massive success of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, it was clear that the stage was set – no pun intended – for another contender in children’s entertainment.”

Lindsay rolls her eyes.

“Unlike most entertainment venues, our robotic entertainers are rented out for private parties during the day, and it’s your job to get the robots back in proper working order before the following morning.”

“Right,” Lindsay blows a piece of hair from her face where it was tickling her nose. “Got that.”

Lindsay steps out of the vent.

***

_ “What accident was he in? Anything I’d know of?” _

_ “Um, yeah. That fire at the Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, actually.” _

_ Recognition flashes through Jack’s eyes. “Oh, I remember that. I thought the name sounded familiar, I’ll be honest. I work as a volunteer firefighter, but I was out of town that week. And the next…” Jack pauses. “I used to work there, you know.” _

_ “Really?” _

_ “Oh, sure. Haven’t worked there in years, but I used to be the manager.” _

_ “What a world.” Lindsay says. She smiles at Jack. “Is it weird seeing your old place of employment as a burned shell?” _

_ “To be honest? Not really. It’s been going downhill for years.” _

_ “Guess it’s the perfect time for a new pizza place to reign supreme as a kids entertainment facility.” _

_ Jack frowns, clearly thinking. “I think I’ve heard of one, actually. I saw an ad in a magazine. God, wish I could remember the name. It had similar characters to Freddy’s, I remember that. There was a Foxy and a Freddy, but they were called… funtime? Funtime Freddy? Yeah, that sounds about right.” _

_ Oh, really? “The place uses the same characters? Do you know if it’s owned by the same company? Like a sister location.”  _ Maybe I can look into this restaurant and find stuff. If it’s owned by the same company, they could be trying to switch from Freddy’s to this new place without people knowing to get sales back up.

_ “I didn’t really look that far into it.” Jack laughs. “It would make sense though, having similar characters and all. There were definitely more characters, though. Ones I’ve never seen at a Freddy’s location. I think the place is named after one of those characters.” _

_ “Huh. That’s really interesting.” Lindsay says. She looks at Gavin’s photo. I’m going to find you, no matter what I have to do. “Do you remember what magazine the ad was in? I definitely want to look into this company.” _

_ “Screws, Bolts, and Hairpins, I think.” Jack says. _

_ Lindsay holds her hand out to shake. “Well, Jack, thanks for the talk. But I should probably get my groceries before it’s nine in the evening-- I know I’ll get distracted somewhere around the pet aisle anyway.” She laughs nervously. _

_ Jack laughs too. “I know the feeling. I spent an hour in the lego aisle once.” _

***

“You are now in the Primary Control Module. It is actually a crawlspace between the two front showrooms. Now let's get started with your daily tasks. View the window to your left. This is the Ballora Gallery Party Room and Dance Studio, encouraging kids to get fit and enjoy pizza. Let’s turn on the light, and see if Ballora is on stage. Press the blue button on the elevated keypad to your left.”

Lindsay looks around as Hand-Unit speaks. She’s in a small room, but the small size doesn’t make her feel any more safe. On both sides, windows show her darkened rooms. Beneath the windows are vents, though they’re closed at the moment. In front of her is a large fan set into the wall with another, closed vent beneath it. She counts four screens, all fuzzy and clearly not working. In front of the windows are little control panels, both with only two buttons: one on top with a symbol that looks like a sun, and another beneath it with a symbol that’s very clearly a lightning bolt.

The most terrifying part of the room are the decorations, though. There’s a large clock on the back wall that’s been made to look like Circus Baby’s face, and while she’s sure it was meant to be cheerful, it only manages to look like the unmoving faces in the old Thomas the Train shows. Terrifying and and fully in the uncanny valley. Above the fan is a clown mask, split into two separate pieces. It has a little party hat sitting crookedly on its head. Beneath the clock are three baby doll’s heads, and as she watches, two of them blink. A shiver runs down her spine. She decides to stop looking at the decorations.

“What did you say?” She asks Hand-Unit. “Press which button?”

Hand-Unit doesn’t answer, but the left control panel has the top button lit up blue and the bottom button lit up red. She takes a gamble and presses the blue, sun button. Through the window, she sees a stage. It’s empty.

“Uh-oh! It looks like Ballora doesn’t feel like dancing. Let’s give her some motivation. Press the red button now to administer a controlled shock. Maybe that will put the spring back in her step.”

_ A what? _ “You want me to do what now?”

Hand-Unit doesn’t answer.

“Yeah, I’m not sure I want to piss the animatronics off, Hand-Unit.” Lindsay shakes her head. Hand-Unit still doesn’t answer. “That sounds like the worst idea yet.”

***

_ “Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rentals.” Lindsay reads for the umpteenth time. “Based in New Jersey.” _

_ The add is pretty simple-- showing what seems to be the animatronic mascots superimposed over a sparkly pink background. There’s a fairly large selection of them: a girlish clown named ‘Circus Baby’ and her two infantlike ‘Bidybabs’, a ballerina named ‘Ballora’, surrounded by small, bland ‘Minireenas’, the bright pink and white ‘Funtime Foxy’, and the same colored ‘Funtime Freddy’ with a hand puppet Bonnie, named ‘Bon-Bon’. It’s not even an add to convince people to go there-- no, it’s for a late-night technician. _

_ It seems to be owned by a company called Cloudberry Robotics. She can’t seem to find any mention of them online, but the same can be said with Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rentals. As if the owner is trying to keep it off the internet as much as they can. _ I can’t imagine why else there would be nothing online about this place. They can’t be new-- with this many animatronics? No way. So why not get the word out on the internet?

_ Maybe they’re hiding something. Maybe Cloudberry Robotics is owned by the same company that owns all the Freddy Fazbears, and they’re trying to get a fresh start without the stigma. It would explain Freddy and Foxy being there, trademarks and copyrights and ownership rules and all that. _

***

Left with no other choice, Lindsay presses the button. An electrical zap courses through the Ballora Gallery, loud enough for her to hear it from the control module. The Gallery lights up a bit, but not really bright enough to see anything in particular.

“Let’s check the light again.”

“Jesus, I really don’t want to do that.” Lindsay looks at the dark window. “Please don’t be right on the other side, please don’t be on the other side, please don’t be on the other side…”

She presses the light button. The Gallery lights up, showing Ballora spinning perfectly on the stage. Her minireenas do their own thing around her. She lets out a breath and lets go of the button. _ Thank God. _

“Excellent! Ballora is feeling like her old self again and will be ready to perform again tomorrow. Now, view the window to your right.”

Lindsay looks right.

“This is the Funtime Auditorium, where Funtime Foxy encourages kids to play and share. Try the light! Let’s see what Funtime Foxy is up to.”

Funtime Auditorium’s stage is as empty as the Ballora Gallery Stage was. Lindsay groans.

“Looks like Funtime Foxy is taking the day off. Let’s motivate Funtime Foxy with a controlled shock.”

She presses the shock button and waits a moment, then turns the lights on. Foxy is still nowhere to be found. Her stomach flips.

“Let’s try another controlled shock.”

Lindsay does, and when she presses the light button after, she looks into the Auditorium with half-closed eyes. Just in case. But this time Foxy is on stage, jerkily looking around and waving. “Whew.”

“Looks like Funtime Foxy is in perfect working order. Great job! In front of you is another vent shaft. Crawl through it to reach the Circus Gallery Control Module.”

The vent opens. Lindsay almost imagines a little arrow pointing her in like a video game.

***

_ Now hiring a late-night technician. If the place is anything like the Freddy’s Gavin worked at, that’s the most dangerous position to have. Surrounded by possibly murderous animatronics, late at night, at a place almost impossible to find. Yeah, there’s no way it’s as innocent as Lindsay wants it to be. There’s no way. Even if it is completely unrelated to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria, the coincidences are too much to ignore. _

_ So Lindsay finds herself with her phone in hand, ready to call and see if the position is still open. It’s a terrible idea. A horrible one. The worst one in the world, because there’s almost no reasons to believe this place holds answers to her and Michael’s mystery, and if it does, it’s definitely dangerous. _

_...Which is why she won’t be telling Michael. _

***

Lindsay pulls herself from the vent and takes a look around. Hand-Unit says something, but she doesn’t pay attention. This room is smaller than the previous one, but it has more fans, and an entire control panel full of buttons and knobs and flashing lights. It looks like something out of an action movie, or the control panel on a submarine or something.

A grinning doll with weirdly large ears has been propped on the control panel. It wears a magician’s outfit. Lindsay grimaces and turns to the smaller, two-buttoned control panel. She presses the light. Part of Circus Baby’s Auditorium lights up, but she can’t even see a stage, let alone Circus Baby.

“Looks like a few of the lights are out, but we can fix that later. Let’s encourage Baby to cheer up with a controlled shock.” Hand-Unit says.

Lindsay does so. “What’s the big deal with them staying onstage during the night? Nobody’s here but me.”

Hand-Unit doesn’t answer her question, not that she expected him to. When the lights show once again, no Circus Baby, he speaks.

“Let’s try another controlled shock.”

No Circus Baby.

“Let’s try another controlled shock.”

No Circus Baby.

“Great job,  [ Circus Baby ](https://fnaf-sister-location.fandom.com/wiki/Circus_Baby) ! We knew we could count on you!”

“Wait, what? She’s not even there!” Lindsay stands closer, trying to find where Circus Baby might be hiding in the darkness.

“That concludes your duties for your first night on the job. We don’t want you to leave overwhelmed, otherwise you might not come back. Please leave using the vent behind you, and we’ll see you again tomorrow.”

_ Er, what? That’s it? Nothing else? _ “I don’t have to get up close and personal? Oh, thank God.”

***

_ She calls the number. It rings once, twice, three times, before someone picks up. _

_ “Hello.” A man’s voice greets. It’s smooth and slow and controlled, but there’s a strange lilt to it that she can’t place. _

_ Lindsay swallows, suddenly unsure. _ Should I actually give this place my information?  _ She puts on her best Tails from Sonic impression“Hi, my name is Ruby-- um, Ruby Rose-- I was calling about the late-night technician position at Circus Baby’s Entertainment and Rentals? If it’s still open, I’d love to have it.” _

_ There’s a pause from the man. “I see. Well, my name is David Afton. I’m the owner of Circus Baby’s, and I handle just about all of the legal, employee, and management positions. What makes you interested in my business, Miss Rose?” _

_ “Oh, you know. Saw the ad, thought it looked cool. Sounds like the kind of place I’d have loved to see when I was a kid, you know.” Lindsay lies. She smiles even though he can’t see it. “I haven’t really been able to find much more information on the place, though. Do you guys have like, a website or something? I’d love to know more about the animatronics.” _

_ David chuckles. “Well, if you’re that interested in the position and the animatronics then you’ll likely get it. We don’t have a lot of people applying. As for the animatronics, you’ll learn about them in our training video. We don’t have a website, unfortunately, but we are working on it. I’ll happily take your information now, if you’re interested. Here at Circus Baby’s we don’t care much for the backgrounds of our workers, preferring to be as unbiased as possible, so whether you’re an ex-con or fresh out of high school, we’ll treat you all the same.” _

_ “Oh, well,” Lindsay laughs. “No need to worry about criminal activities! The most I have is a couple of detentions in high school. So, yeah. But I’ll give you my information, sure. Um, my address is,” She thinks quickly. “11 Hunter Drive, Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, 13045.” _

_ “Pennsylvania?” _

Shit. _ “I’m planning on moving soon, like, really soon, I just don’t have the new address yet and all. I’ll let you know the address change soon enough. You know what I mean?” _

_ “I do, Miss Rose. How soon are you moving? Because I’d love to have you start as soon as possible.” _

_ “Oh, I’ll be coming to New Jersey in two weeks! Should be able to start two Mondays from now.” _ Actually, I’ll be leaving tomorrow. I want to get a good look at the area.

_David hums. “Sounds good, Miss Rose. You’re sure you’re interested in joining the Cloudberry Robotics family?”_ _  
_ _“Oh, absolutely.”_

_ “Then welcome aboard. Do you have an email we can talk through? I’d like to get a few more credentials from you-- nothing too difficult, mind you-- and then I’ll send you the training video and official schedule.” _

_ Anxiety swirls in Lindsay’s stomach like a swarm of bees. “Oh, absolutely. You can email me at LT-2000@hotmail.com.” _

_ “I’ll get ahold of you, Miss Rose.” _


	2. Balance and Fear

Lindsay spends the day sleeping. She dreams of random moments; people she’s never seen before and conversations that can’t have happened, just because of how strange they are. Besides, they’re dreams. That’s how dreams are. But not everything is strange and unfamiliar, and when she wakes up to her alarm three hours before work it’s a relief to not have to see her mind’s idea of Michael’s death-by-animatronic. Shockingly Gavin-free. She snorts to herself.  _ Free of Gavin Free. Gavin Free free.  _

Is this what gallows humor is?

She spends the next three hours preparing for work. Breakfast is an egg sandwich, then she takes a shower, thoroughly enjoying the warmth. For the last hour and a half she has before leaving for work, she prepares. Lindsay finds her stun gun “tase fist” (made to look like a brass knuckle, because that’s awesome and way less suspicious than a taser) and slips it into her pocket, making sure it’s off for the time being. Michael texts, and she spends a few minutes talking with him about this-and-that. She doesn’t say a thing about where she is, feeling only moderately guilty about it.

Look, she’ll tell him when it’s all over and she has some sort of information about what’s going on. It’ll totally be worth his anger. And, probably, worry. Still, it sounds like Michael’s having his own problems, so really, she’s doing him a favor by not putting more of a burden on his shoulders. And this Jeremy guy sounds like a real pal, so he's in good hands. Probably.

Then it’s time for work, and the real worry sets in. Another night, new tasks, more danger. What happens when she has to get up close and dirty with the animatronics? She’s pretty sure there’s nothing that she can do if an eight foot tall robot gets its hands on her, so all she can do is try not to get to that point. Gavin had had doors, but he was a security guard. She’s a technician-- of course she’ll have to work on the animatronics. _ And I haven’t even seen Circus Baby yet. _

Lindsay walks into the elevator. Faux-cheery music plays, the fan spins and casts moving shadows along the floor and walls. It’s like a cage, keeping her stuck until the doors open and an animatronic is on the other side of the doors, waiting. And the elevator moves

Down.

And down.

And down.

Until it finally stops and the door opens to the vent for her to crawl into once again like a gaping, hungry, maw. If she’d thought the confines of the elevator were oppressive, then the vent is endless: nowhere at all until finally she’s at the place she needs to be, after an eternity of anxious crawling in the dark with only a flashlight. Hand-Unit speaks, but she doesn’t listen, and when presented with the still-malfunctioning keypad, she presses random letters until it disappears back into the floor and speaks again. She doesn’t listen that time, either.

She crawls into the vent. As Lindsay makes her way, Hand-Unit speaks again. She firmly ignores it, sure that listening will only fuel her fears. Instead she turns her attention to music, the first song that appears in her head.

_ They see you as small and helpless _

_ They see you as just a child _

_ Surprise when they find out _

_ That a warrior will soon run wild _

“Okay, let’s start with your nightly chores.” Hand-Unit says, sounding very different than usual. British, for one, and younger than before. 

Lindsay blinks. _ Did I do that? _

“You should check on Ballora, make sure she’s on her stage!” Hand-Unit chatters.

Lindsay presses the light button and finds, to her relief, that Ballora is on her stage, poised and ready to dance. She sighs, feeling some of the tension wash away.

“Huh. Guess Ballora has better things to do.” Hand-Unit laughs. “Let’s give her a zap. That should be fun!”

“Wait, what? I thought we only did that if they weren’t on stage?” Lindsay asks.

Hand-Unit doesn’t answer, and Lindsay stares at the glowing, red, zap button. She tries pushing the light button, which works. The other keypad, for Funtime Auditorium, doesn’t work at all.  _ I have no choice, _ she realizes.  _ Hand-Unit is the one in charge. What happens if he decides he doesn’t like me? Will he lead me to the wrong room? Give the animatronics electric shocks anyway, pretending I did it? _

She swallows thickly, and gives Ballora an electric shock. The sound she hears next is something like a demon’s; there’s no words to it, just an unnatural, distorted sound like 

something electronic trying to speak and failing. Chills run up her spine and then down again. “Al-alright, motherfuckers, whoever that was, I’m Piper the Eagle-Eyed Sniper. You don’t want to cross me, you hear?”

There’s no answer from the animatronics, but Hand-Unit doesn’t seem bothered. “Let’s check on Funtime Foxy, make sure he’s ready for showtime tomorrow.”

Lindsay grimaces deeper than she was. “Hey, uh, Hand-Unit? I liked you better before you sounded like...” She trails off.  _ Sounded like my boyfriend’s best friend, or someone he would’ve known back in England. _

She presses the light button. Foxy stands exactly where he’s supposed to. The light goes off, and the keypad goes dark.

“GrEaT. GrEaT. GrEaT.”

_ What the fuck?! _

“There seems to have been a problem with the voice synthesizer. Default settings have been restored.” Hand-Unit says, voice normal. “Please proceed through the vent ahead of you to Circus Baby’s Auditorium.”

Lindsay does as told, mind reeling.  _ Was that first distorted sound Hand-Unit, then? _ She wonders.

“Motion trigger: Circus Gallery Vent.” An automated voice says as she crawls.

She pulls herself into the control room.

“Circus Baby had a busy day today. Let’s check the light and make sure she’s in proper working order.” Hand-Unit says. Lindsay presses the button to find. Once again, no Circus Baby. “Oh Circus Baby, we aren’t here to play hide and seek. Let’s encourage Baby to come out of hiding with a controlled shock.”

“Have you thought that maybe the electronics really don’t like controlled shocks?” Lindsay mutters. She presses the button. It doesn’t work, making an error sound.

“Let’s try another controlled shock.”

She presses the button again, with the same result.

“There seems to be a power malfunction that is affecting our ability to properly motivate Baby. Please stand by while I reboot the system. I will be offline momentarily during this process. Various other systems may be offline during this process as well, such as security doors, vent locks, and oxygen. Commencing system restart.” Hand-Unit powers off.

So does the rest of the power in the room, leaving her in darkness. Lindsay whips around, trying desperately to see in the darkness. Her heart pounds like a drum beat that’s off rhythm, and her breaths match. In. Out. In.Out. Inoutinoutinout. There are no sounds, nothing to be seen in the inky blackness. That she knows of.

And that’s the worst part.

“Motion trigger: Entryway Vent.”

She sucks in a breath.

“Funtime Auditorium maintenance vent opened.”

She pulls the tase fist from her pocket. 

“Ballora Gallery maintenance vent opened.”

She turns it on.

“I don’t recognise you.” An unfamiliar voice says. “You are new. I remember this scenario, however. It’s a strange thing to want to do, to come here. I’m curious what events wouls lead a person to want to spend their nights in a place like this willingly. Maybe curiosity, maybe ignorance. There is a space under the desk, someone before you crafted it into a hiding place and it worked for him. I recommend that you hurry though. You will be safe there, just try not to make eye contact, it will be over soon. They will lose interest.”

Lindsay stays silent. She looks around, still unable to tell where the voice comes from and unable to see anything that might give her a clue. Her flashlight hangs from her belt, but… she almost doesn’t want to see what waits for her, hidden in the dark. She backs up to the control module.

Quickly she crawls into the hiding space.  _ I don’t know what’s going on. Who’s looking? Who was that? Circus Baby? Why is she helping me? Is she not evil?  _ A thousand questions and no answers. She pulls the sliding door closed, flicks on her flashlight, and finds, disconcerted, that the door is full of small holes.  _ Don’t make eye contact.  _ Something clunks around in the vent. She bites her lip until it bleeds, trying desperately not to scream.

_ Okay, this is way more terrifying than I thought it would be. _

“Helloo in there.” A soft voice breathes. “Someone is inside.”

Her hand shakes. Her other one comes up to cover her mouth.  _ I’m going to scream. I’m going to scream and then they’ll find me and then I’ll die. Why else would they be looking for me? _ The door rattles, and the voice whispers something else she can’t catch. Something metal raps against the door.

“Knock knock.” The door begins to slide open.

Fear courses through her like red-hot iron. She grapples for the door, afraid to really grab it to pull it closed. If they see her fingers, will they try to hurt them? She presses her palms to the metal and painstakingly fights against whatever animatronic is on the other side. Slowly, she pushes the door closed.

It whispers again, but she can’t make it out. The door begins to slide open. She presses her palms flat and hopes the sweat is enough to stick her hand to it like before. This time it’s easier to keep it closed, almost like her adversary is tiring more quickly than she is.

“She’s watching us. We have to leave now.” They whisper. “We’ll see you again soon.”

The sound of something walking away is enough to calm her nerves somewhat. She rests her head against the door, enjoying the feeling of the cold metal against her almost feverish skin. It’s grounding.

And then the first animatronic speaks up again. “When your guide comes back online, he is going to tell you that he was unsuccessful, that you must restart the system manually. He will then tell you to crawl through Ballora Gallery as fast as you can to reach the Breaker Room. If you follow his instructions, you will die. Ballora will not return to her stage anymore, she will catch you. The power will be restored shortly. When you crawl through Ballora Gallery, go slowly. She can not see you and can only listen for your movement. When you hear her music become louder, she is growing near, listening for you. Wait and be still.”

“Thank you for your patience. It seems that the power system cannot be restarted automatically. You will need to restart the power system manually. Please return to the primary control module.”

She crawls out from under the desk and then into the vent. Her flashlight is off again; no need to attract any of the animatronics with a random, unexpected light. The sounds of her crawling through the vent are damning enough.  _ One hand in front of the other. Again, and again, until it’s all over. _

***

_ “One foot in front of the other, Lindsay.” She whispers to herself. “And then you’ll be done.” _

_The balance beam stretches out in front of her. The floor is four feet below but it feels like miles, and the end of the beam can’t come soon enough. But Lindsay smiles for the crowd and the judges and starts her routine. It’s practiced to perfection, but the fear never really goes away. She can do bars, vault, floor, no problem. But beam-- beam is a never ending source of terror. She doesn't show it. The judges have no idea, not with her smile and perfect routine. She’s very good at moving through fear._ _Fear isn’t going to stop her from getting the best score at the meet. Fear isn’t going to stop her from getting to the olympics._

***

“You will now be required to crawl through the Ballora Gallery using the vent to your left to reach the Breaker Room. It is recommended that you stay low to the ground, and reach the other side as fast as possible as to not disturb Ballora. I will deactivate myself momentarily, as to not create an auditory disturbance. Deactivating.”

_ Go slowly,  _ Lindsay remembers.  _ She will catch me. Who do I believe? _

She crawls through the vent and into the Gallery. Her flashlight shines at the floor, illuminating only what’s just in front of her. She crawls. Step. Step. Step. Stop. Wait intently for any sign of movement in the darkness. Crawl forward.

Music, beautiful and sounding like something from a ballet, reaches her ears. It’s distant but moving around, and she freezes. It moves around her and away, and the music fades out. She bites her lip again and continues crawling forward. The music comes again, still distant. She pushes through it. She can faintly see the door leading to safety, now, and there’s nothing going to stop her.

“It seems you are taking a long time. Please proceed as quickly, and as quietly, as possible.” Hand-Unit says suddenly. His voice echoes through the room, sounding like it comes from everywhere all at once. Her stomach tightens.

_ Why the hell would you do that? Do you want me to die? _ She crawls forward again. The door is closer, closer, closer, and yet with the amount of times she pauses because she hears Ballora come near it takes forever. Then, finally, the door is right there-- and she hears Ballora’s music again, coming closer than ever before.

Ballora passes by just out of the ring of light. Lindsay sees her feet, tiptoeing like a ballerina across the floor. Shockingly slowly. It’s no less terrifying, realizing just how tall Ballora is as she crawls along on her hands and knees. It’s like she’s been dunked in ice water, the way every part of her body is suddenly hyper aware of everything going on around her. She shivers.

Ballora dances away, and Lindsay continues to the door.  _ Go away go away go away go away. _ She repeats the mantra in her head. It’s not like Ballora can hear, or that she would even do as she says, but it helps somewhat. Then the door is in front of her and she lunges for it, closing it quickly behind her.

“Motion trigger: Breaker Room.”

The breaker room is just as dark as the Ballora Gallery, though she can see red buttons illuminated on a control box and what looks like broken electrical wires sparking behind it. A dim light flashes every once in a while and in the right side of the room, Funtime Freddy stands on a small stage. Lindsay swallows.

“You may now interface with the breaker control box. Using the interface may disrupt nearby electronics. If you feel you are in danger, feel free to disconnect the interface temporarily until it is safe to reconnect.”

“Lovely.” Lindsay whispers. She walks to the control box.

One button says ‘Mascot Response Audio’ and she presses it. A cheery, soothing voice speaks. “Calm down and go back to sleep. Noone is here.”

Something else speaks in response. A male’s voice this time, the kind of voice suited for rock and roll or something. He laughs. “Well, hello again!”

_ Ohhh my god. Oh my god. Was that Funtime Freddy? _ She swallows down her fear and opens the control box. It brings up a screen with a map. On the left side of the map, buttons saying ‘restart’ sit under the names of the rooms. ‘Click and hold to restart systems’ she reads.

She presses the first ‘restart’. It makes a blinking noise, but the percentage raises the longer she holds. Somewhere in the room, something moves. She freezes, closing the screen, and presses the ‘Mascot Response Audio’ button again.

“Go back to your stage. Everything is okay!” 

This is going to take forever. Lindsay opens the screen again and returns to fixing the power. It had stayed at the percentage she’d left it at, which is good. If she had to restart every time… well, there’s no way she’d be getting out of here, alive or dead. She continues fixing the power.  _ There’s so much I have to do. _

The male’s voice-- she hereby decides it’s Funtime Freddy, whether she’s right or not-- laughs again. “Bon-Bon, say hi to-”

Lindsay presses the ‘Mascot Response Audio’ again, and the audio cuts Funtime Freddy off. She looks around for Funtime Freddy. The light flashes. He’s not on his stage. It flashes again. There he is, Bon-Bon raised up as he faces his microphone held in his left hand.

“You move.” She mouths, but no voice comes out. She’s thankful-- speaking is probably the last thing she should do.

After that, she finds herself in a sort of a rhythm. Press a button to fix the audio. If she hears Freddy move or speak, she stops and presses the ‘Mascot Response Audio’ button. Freddy usually has something to say to that, always with a laugh and playful yet threatening. Sometimes when she closes the screen he’s right behind the control panel, half-hidden in the live wiring hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes he’s in the corner of the room, or on his stage, or hidden in the darkness where she can’t find him. If she goes too long without hearing Freddy, she pauses and presses the audio button anyway.

But finally, the power is restored.

“Great job! This completes your tasks for the night. Please proceed back through the Ballora Gallery with care, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.”

Lindsay sighs with relief and goes back through the door. The night isn’t over yet, but she’ll take the Ballora Gallery over the Breaker Room any night. She makes it about halfway through the room before anything happens.

“Is someone there?” Ballora asks.

Lindsay freezes. Her hands shake against the floor. She sucks in a breath between her clenched teeth and keeps going.

“I can hear someone creeping through my room.”

Keep going. Get to the vent.

“Perhaps not.”

She crawls into the vent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, I know. I've been pretty busy with school and stuff, but things have calmed down a bit so I should be able to get into a regular uploading schedule. Hope you guys like this chapter! We get to see a bit of Lindsay's past as she deals with the present.


	3. By The Skin Of Your Teeth

“Due to unforeseen malfunctions from today’s shows, your nightly duties will require you to perform maintenance that you may or may not be skilled enough to perform.” Hand-Unit says as Lindsay crawls through the vent.

She rolls her eyes.

“It became necessary for technicians to attempt to disconnect Funtime Freddy’s power module. However, they were unsuccessful. Allowing them to try again would be an inefficient path forward, as we would need to allow six to eight weeks for recovery and physical therapy. You will need to reach the Parts and Service room on the other side of Funtime Auditorium to perform the procedure yourself. Let’s check on Ballora first, and make sure she’s on her stage.”

Lindsay pulls herself from the vent. _What, they get recovery and therapy but I don't? What am I, chopped liver?_ She frowns. _Yeah, yeah, I am._ She presses the light button to the Ballora Gallery. Ballora stands on her stage, but… she’s contorted herself into pieces, stretched out as a distinct reminder that she is very, very far from being human. Lindsay shudders.

“Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Ballora Gallery. Let’s check on Funtime Foxy. It’s important to make sure she’s on her stage before entering.”

Happy to turn her attention from whatever Ballora is up to, Lindsay presses the light button for Funtime Auditorium. Foxy is, of course, missing. Hand-Unit doesn’t seem to notice.

“Great, it looks like everything is as it should be in Funtime Auditorium. There is no need to check on Baby tonight; please refrain from entering unauthorized areas. Proceed directly to Funtime Auditorium.”

Er, what? “No need to check on Baby?” She weighs her options. On one hand, Circus   
Baby frightens her more than any of the other animatronics. On the other hand… what does Hand-Unit not want her to see? Lindsay crawls into the vent, heading for Circus Baby’s control room.

The room is dark. The module is off. She has, for all intents and purposes, no reason to be here. Instead of turning around, she crawls under the module and closes the door. Then she waits. Circus Baby doesn’t disappoint.

“Did you know that I was on stage once? It wasn’t for very long.. only one day. What a wonderful day, though. I was in a small room with balloons and a few tables. No-one sat at the tables though, but children would run in and out. Some were afraid of me, others enjoyed my songs. Music was always coming from somewhere else... down a hall. I would always count the children. I’m not sure why. I was always acutely aware of how many there were in the room with me.”

Lindsay grimaces. _Oh yeah, that’s not freaky at all._

“Two, then three, then two, then three, then four, then two, then none. They usually played together in groups of two or three. I was covered in glitter. I smelled like birthday cake. There were two, then three, then five, then four.”

Circus Baby pauses. Lindsay thinks hard. When was this? How long ago? It couldn’t have been long, this place is fairly new.

Circus Baby speaks again. “I can do something special, did you know that? I can make ice cream - although I only did it once…”

_I could do with some ice cream._

“There were four, then three, then two, then one. Something happened when there was one. A little girl, standing by herself. I was no longer... myself. And I stopped singing.”

A rock settles in Lindsay’s gut. A chill runs down her spine. She holds her breath, entrapped in the story and yet the last thing she wants to do is hear the end. _But I have to._

“My stomach opened, and there was ice cream. I couldn’t move, at least not until she stepped closer. There was screaming for a moment... but only for a moment. Then other children rushed in again, but they couldn’t hear her over the sounds of their own excitement. I still hear her sometimes. Why did that happen?”

 _Oh my god. Ohmygod._ Lindsay bites her lip, hard. Yep. Murderous animatronics. It’s a definite, if it hadn’t been already. _Why does it sound like she doesn’t want to, though? That’s not how the ones at Freddy’s were like. They chose to… but it sounds like Circus Baby will, whether she wants to or not?_

Lindsay looks down at her shaking hands. _Like when your hands shake when you’re scared. You don’t want them to, but they will anyways. Like when your ankle hurts when you try to walk on it because you broke it, and no matter what the pain won’t go away because it isn’t something you can consciously control. Is that it? These animatronics are as sentient as the others, but they’re programmed to kill, something they can’t control. The other animatronics killed because they didn’t trust people._

“The scorpion and the frog,” Lindsay mutters. “It’s in my nature.” But is it really? “You said you can still hear the girl you killed.” Lindsay says, louder.

She waits, but Circus Baby doesn’t answer. She must have left. Why show up, tell her a tidbit about this or that, and then disappear again? What’s the point? Lindsay sucks in a breath. _And who was the little girl?_

***

“Unlike Ballora, Funtime Foxy is motion-activated. For this reason, it’s important to keep the room dark, as to not accidentally activate her. You have been provided with a flash beacon. Use it if you need to get your bearings and to ensure you don’t bump into anything. However, use it as sparingly as possible. Proceed forward to reach the Parts and Service room.”

Lindsay looks down at her hands, impossible to see in the complete darkness of the room. The flash beacon sits in them, waiting to be used. Her stomach curls into a knot. _I’d rather have to be quiet and be able to see than be as loud as I want but not be able to see anything._ She lets out the breath she’d been holding, and uses the flash beacon.

The room lights up briefly. It’s empty, at least, what she saw of it. She swallows and takes a few steps towards the Parts and Service room. She takes a few more steps, then a few more. She uses the flash beacon again. Foxy stands only a few yards away, jerkily nodding her head. Lindsay screams.

She runs for the door, then slows after a few strides. Foxy must’ve seen her. She must’ve. So she knows where Lindsay is, and where to walk to. What if she just walked into her path, and is just waiting for Lindsay to walk right into her? Lindsay grits her teeth. She uses the flash beacon again.

The room lights up, and Lindsay spots the door to her left. She walks towards it. Take a few strides, flash beacon. Take a few more, flash beacon. It works, and before long, she’s in Parts and Service, all without having seen Foxy again. _Why didn’t she kill me?_ Lindsay wonders. _Did she lose me in the dark?_

She focuses on the scene in front of her. She’d completely missed the first part of what Hand-Unit had to say.

“--endoskeleton jaw. To reach it, we will first need to open the face-plates. You will need to press the face-plate release triggers in a specific order, and it’s important to be as precise and as careful as possible. Locate the small button on Freddy’s face, just under his right cheek, and press it.”

Lindsay looks at her shaking hands. “Precise. Awesome.” She reaches forward, then pauses. “Under his… right… cheek. His right. Not mine.”

She presses the button. It clicks. And for a moment, nothing happens.

“Great, now locate the button under his left cheek, and press it.” She presses that one, too. “Great! Now carefully locate and press the button next to Freddy’s right eye.”

It takes a moment to find that one. She wouldn’t have noticed it at all if she hadn’t been looking for it, which is kind of the point, really. It clicks when she presses it, just like the other two.

“Great! now carefully locate and press the button just above Freddy’s nose.” Hand-Unit says.

Lindsay does so, and the faceplates spring open with the sound of an airlock being uncompressed. She fumbles with her flashlight, startled, but nothing more happens. Freddy doesn’t launch himself at her, screaming. She sighs. “Calm down, Linds.” She reminds herself. “One step in front of the other.”

So it goes, with Lindsay following Hand-Unit’s instructions as carefully as she can. Do this, do that, take this out, replace that. One step after another. She has to catch Bon Bon after he comes unattached to Freddy’s hand to press a button on his bowtie. That takes a while, and ends with her carefully watching out of the corner of her eye to catch him peeking out from behind Freddy. At least nobody can say she doesn’t have patience. And she has a hell of a lot more than she did before she came here.

Then she finds herself traversing back through Funtime Auditorium with her flash beacon. It’s dark, quiet, and terrifying. Lindsay takes a few steps, and uses her flash beacon. The room lights up and for a fraction of a second, she sees an empty room. Then it’s dark again, and she keeps walking forward.

She uses the flash beacon again. Foxy comes at her from the side, screaming. Lindsay screams, too, and turns to watch Foxy’s faceplate open wide, showing all of the wires normally hidden inside. Two yellow eyes stare deep into her own brown ones. She stumbles back, shrouded in darkness again, and suddenly the floor is rushing up to meet her.

***

_I’m Circus Baby, walking around in the sunny, grassy foreverfield. Music plays all around. It’s a happy song, bouncy, something that makes children dance around with glee. There are children I need to bring cupcakes to, and I can’t run out of cupcakes before all of the kids get enough to be happy._

_I toss a few at the first children I see, two cupcakes for each child. I walks past them to the next. Before long, I run out of cupcakes. I hadn’t given every child I’d walked past their cupcakes, and there are still plenty of more children to greet. But there are more cupcakes to be shared-- I just have to find them!_

_Some of the children dance on platforms in the sky. Others stand on little islands of ground, surrounded by neverending holes. I jump from island to island, smiling at the children, and find more cupcakes as I go, and sometimes I go back to give children I’d passed by their cupcakes. The red cupcakes are easy; two cupcakes a child, and I toss them around like there’s no other way to do it. The blue cupcakes turn into three when I toss them, one going straight, one going down, and one going up. The green cupcakes keep going straight even after they reach a child, and yet each child that the green cupcakes pass gets a cupcake anyway._

_It’s all just great fun! Everyone is happy and smiling, and the cupcakes are gone but everyone has gotten enough anyway, except for--_

_Except for?_

_I walk back to where I started as quickly as I can. There is someone_

_Here. Waiting._

_For me?_

_Waiting. Alone. She is alone._

_He is alone._

_?-_

_I stop and smile, and hold out ice cream for ?_

_? walks forward, smiling, smiling, smiling, and--_

_W̐ͦͦ͂̆̎ͮͫ҉̟̹̻̜̥ͅh̵̢̪͖̙̱ͤ͂̋͡y̻̔͒̂ͬ͊̄̚ ̬͇̣̬̂̇͛d̵͖̥̦̱̠̲̹̝ͫ̒̓į̟͙͐ͥ̾ͯ͑ͪ̎̕d̟̞͇̹͚̖̬̆̀͗̓ͩ ͌ͩͧ͛ͦ͆̌̕҉̧̮͔̥̣̣̪̟͉ț̶̘̦̱̳̻̪̮̰͂̆ͩ̎̎ͥh͍̩̼͔͖͖̻̉ͥ́ͧ̅̅͛͞a̮͖͎̫ͨ͋͗̚t͚̱̩͇͙ͧ̃̋̽͑ ͑҉̯̤͇̠̩̣͜ͅh̘̙͉͓͍̙͉ͥͣ̎͌ȃ̢̗̮͓̤̜ͨ̇͋̀̋ͪp̾̍҉͇͖̹̹͖͎p͔̜̜̤̞͕̜ͦ̂̒̆͞e̶ͦ͏̵͖͉͍̘̭͓̥̳͎n̥̩̟͆͐?͔̻̘͓͋͌̈́ͯ̃ͮ́_


	4. Springtrapped

_ “Daddy, she can make balloons! Have you seen her make balloons? Oh, Daddy, let me go to her!” _

Lindsay wakes up to darkness. They groan. A pain flares in the back of their head. They grimace, waiting for the dull throb to subside somewhat.  _ Where am I?  _ Their dream bubbles to the surface of their mind. They’d been-- they’d-- Lindsay takes a deep breath. _ I’ll think about my nightmare later, when I’m at my hotel room. _ Still, they can’t quite put the image out of their head of the lone child-- a little girl, but also a little boy. The girl that Circus Baby had killed… and yet, at the same time, their mind’s idea of a young Gavin.

It’s a stark, unwelcome reminder of why they’re here in the first place. Find clues that can lead them to Gavin. In the least, give answers into the history of Fazbear Entertainment. At the moment they’ve got more questions than answers, but at least they’re new questions.

The first question being: what the hell is going on? They’re in something that’s holding them up, but it’s so dark they can barely see. Lindsay twists. They have just enough room to maneuver their arms and abdomen, but their legs are securely stuck in what seem to be legs. There’s a big, metal faceplate closed in front of their face. The eyeholes are big enough to see out of, at least.

“Shhh, be still and quiet. You’ve been sleeping for quite awhile. I think they noticed that you never left the building last night. The cameras were searching for you, but they couldn’t find you. I have you hidden too well. I k i d n a p p e d y o u.” Circus Baby whispers.

Lindsay’s breath catches in their throat.  _ I thought you were trying to help me, _ they think, too afraid to actually speak. They bite their lip.

“Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you. I am only going to keep you for a little while.” Circus Baby says. “Try not to wiggle, though. You’re inside something that came from the old pizzeria. I don’t think it was ever used, at least not the way it was meant to be used. Too dangerous. It’s just big enough for one person to fit inside, but just barely.”

They stand stock still.

Circus Baby continues. “You’re in the Scooping Room. Do you know why they call it the Scooping Room?” She only waits a moment, one Lindsay doesn’t bother to use. “It’s because, dummy, this is the room where they use the  _ Scooper _ . I thought that would be obvious... Isn’t that a fun name for something? The Scooper. It sounds like something you would use for ice cream, or custard, or sprinkles. It sounds like something you would want at your birthday party to ensure that you get a heaping portion of every. Good. Thing. I wonder, though, if you were a freshly opened pint of ice cream, how you would feel about something with that name.

“Thankfully, I don’t think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all. Uh-oh. It sounds like someone else is in the building. Shh.”

Lindsay holds their breath as two workers make their way into the room they’re in. They want to speak out, terribly so, but if they do-- what will Circus Baby do? What will happen if they try to get them out of the suit?

One of the workers talks. “Okay, bring her over. Forward. More. Mooore, okay stop. Set her down. Watch the step.”

The other responds, sounding just as bored. “What happened to it this time? It just seems these things can’t go a day without breaking down.”

“Who knows. It’s always the same, man. Some kinda hardware malfunction.”

“Well like I have to be somewhere in 15 minutes, and this place gives me the creeps. Can we just get this over with?”

“It’s all automated; we don’t have to be here for it. Just get her on the rollers, and we can go.”

Something mechanical starts up. It makes a racket, but Lindsay still can’t see into the room to see what it is.

What are they talking about? One of the animatronics for sure, but they can’t make out anything past the faceplate. And-- can’t go a day without breaking down? Always the same? Surely they can’t break that easily. The upkeep would be too expensive, even for someone whose sole purpose making the animatronics was to kill people--

Oh.  _ Oh _ . Lindsay knows with certainty what the ‘hardware malfunction’ is, even if the other two workers have no idea whatsoever. There’s the dead, broken corpse of a child in that animatronic. Someone’s got to take it out. Some _ thing’s _ got to take it out. Luckily, they’ve got a front row seat to seeing the Scooper in action. If that’s what the scooper does, at least.

Lindsay realizes suddenly that they can see past their faceplate-- but just barely. A dim light from their right falls on the face of Ballora as a machine drags her slowly past Lindsay and the suit they’re stuck in. She must only be a foot away or so. The machine stops with Ballora firmy placed so Lindsay can see her in her left eyehole. Lindsay swallows.

“There is something very important that I’ve learned how to do over time, do you know what this is? How to pretend. Do you ever play make believe? Pretend to be one way, when you are really the other? It’s very important. Ballora never learns, but I do. They think there is something wrong on the inside. The only thing that matters is knowing. How. To. Pretend…” Circus Baby trails off.

Beeping, like a countdown. A red light in the right corner of their vision blinks with each beep.

Beep.

Beep.

Beep. 

Beep.

A pause, and then-- Ballora jerks back, faceplate and chestplate snapping open and closed with the sound of metal on metal. It happens again. Three times, and then Ballora falls forward. Still mostly upright, but hunched over. All Lindsay can make out in the darkness is one of Ballora’s eyes, glowing, and staring right at them.

Lindsay sucks in a shaky breath. The Scooper had hit Ballora somewhere out of Lindsay’s line of sight. They can’t tell what really happened, but it’s terrifying nonetheless. Violent. They wonder if it hurts the animatronics. They wonder if they can feel any pain at all.

“I’ll open the faceplates for you.” The faceplate springs open. “That way they can find you on the cameras. Now all you have to do is wait. I’d recommend that you keep the springlocks wound up. Your breathing and your heartbeat are causing them to come loose. You don’t want them to get too loose, trust me.”

Lindsay looks around inside the suit. They can see the springlocks, almost screw-like dials of metal. They spin, coming loose far too quickly for Lindsay’s liking. Still-- “Was that what you wanted me to see? The Scooper?”

Circus Baby doesn’t answer. Lindsay winds the springlocks as quickly as they can, but by the time one is fully wound up, the others are unwound in a way that just screams  _ bad news!  _ to them. Still, there’s nothing else to be done.

From the darkness, something crawls up the side of their suit. It’s humanoid, with more of an idea of a face than an actual one. They stifle a scream and watch out of the corner of their eye as it keeps climbing. They wind up a springlock. _ I have to get it off. _

They wiggle. There’s no telling if it’s actually fallen off, but they can’t wiggle any more or else the springlocks will get too loose, and-- they do not want to know what will happen if they get too loose. Another crawls up on the other side. They wiggle again, and it falls.

Wind springlock. Wiggle. Wind more springlocks. See another climb up. Realize it’s a minireena. Wiggle. Wind springlocks. Little red lights blink when they’re really loose, a good way to tell which one Lindsay should focus one first. It’s a frantic battle of too much vs not enough, and the penalty is definitely death.

A minireena tries to climb into the suit. They wiggle. It glares at them with blank eyes, and keeps crawling, this time back on the outside of their suit. It disappears into the darkness. They try not to think about what it’s doing, and wiggles again. They wind another springlock.

Their breath comes in short gasps. Lindsay tries to regulate it, but they’re too afraid to fully focus on doing so.  _ Wait  _ and  _ be still _ ? How about  _ freak out  _ and  _ don’t die.  _ They wiggle another minireena off and realize, with a start, that they’re crying. Hot tears stream down their cheeks, but they don’t have time to wipe them. They sniff.

_ I’m not going to die. Not like this, not here. _ They force the thought to the front of their mind. Wiggle. A minireena falls. Wind the springlocks. Wiggle again. Wind up more springlocks. Desperately hope their tears aren’t doing anything to the suit. Choke back a sob.

The lights flick on. Lindsay blinks. Spots dance in their eyes as they’re blinded by the sudden light. They desperately try to see the springlocks they have to wind. Then there’s talking-- no, yelling-- and there are people in front of them, helping pull them out of the suit and away from those damned springlocks. They don't get their vision back fully-- from the mix of tears and light-blindness-- until they’re in another room entirely.

Lindsay doesn’t tell anyone how they got there. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everyone! You'll notice I updated Lindsay's pronouns for this chapter-- I fully intend on using they/them for Lindsay in the future, and eventually I'll go through and update them in my past works as well. I'd have done it sooner, but with Finals and the Holidays I've barely been able to have a moment to myself. Well, that and my recent obsession with The Mandalorian...  
> Anyway, thanks for reading, and let me know what you think! Only a few more chapters left, and we all know how Sister Location ends... but, no way of telling if this story will end the same way :). I've been keeping a lot similar to the game for this one, unlike the other two (well, Mistakes, at least-- Clock Strikes didn't really follow any of the games), because it's very much a game for Lore, unlike most of the other FNAF games that were largely random chance with little Lore, other than the minigames. But there's plenty of time left to switch things up!


End file.
